Motorola vs. FM Quality

[mvinsable]

This might be a pretty obvious question, but I thought I would see if there was a definite answer.
When I am listening to my scanner (RadioShack Pro-164), I have about 5 Motorola frequencies programmed (police) as well as about 5 FM frequencies (Fire/EMS/State Police) programmed in the same bank.

The Motorola frequencies seem to come in pretty clear. But the FM ones tend to have a little more static and cutout at times.

Is this normal because of the systems being used or is there something I should do with the antenna?

Thanks ahead of time!
Matt

 

[SkipSanders]

'Motorola' isn't a modulation.

Most 'Motorola' systems are, wait for it... FM.

Perhaps you mean by Motorola that they're trunking systems? If so, they could be either FM, or P25 digital. If they're digital, they will tend to have a different sound than analog FM transmitters.

You basically don't give enough information to answer anything, so I can only guess.

 

[mvinsable]

OKay. I know what you mean.
I was just saying that the 800MHz that I am monitoring for the county and city police are motorola trunking systems and I tend to get them clearly.
However, when I get a signal from the state police that are on the regular 155.324 channel that is not trunking and they tend to be more static and I have a hard to getting them clearly.

So I was seeing if the trunking system was the reason for the difference or if I should do something different with my antenna somehow (it's a magnetic one from Radioshack, but I have it laying on it's side - in the cargo space of my 4Runner) or if it's just the way the signal is here?

Thanks for the information though

 

[Astrak]

You're probably just further away from the broadcasting tower of the VHF station than that of the trunked system. BTW Skip the 164 isn't capable of P25.

 

[Highpockets]

OKay. I know what you mean.
I was just saying that the 800MHz that I am monitoring for the county and city police are motorola trunking systems and I tend to get them clearly.
However, when I get a signal from the state police that are on the regular 155.324 channel that is not trunking and they tend to be more static and I have a hard to getting them clearly.

So I was seeing if the trunking system was the reason for the difference or if I should do something different with my antenna somehow (it's a magnetic one from Radioshack, but I have it laying on it's side - in the cargo space of my 4Runner) or if it's just the way the signal is here?

Thanks for the information though

Why is the antenna laying on it side in the cargo area, put it up on the roof where it belongs, you should get better results.

 

[SkipSanders]

800 MHz tends to get inside vehicles much better than VHF, so if your antenna is not outside, or inside a metal cargo area, it's not going to receive VHF as well as it does UHF/800, very likely.

Antennas should be vertical, and on the roof is generally best. Even sitting on the edge of the cargo area on the rail would be better than inside the bed, though.

 

[whiskeytango]

i actually get my 150's better than the 800's. but the antenna vertical will prolly make your day

 

[mvinsable]

Okay, I will try and get my antenna vertical in there. I just don't always use it and it seems to blow over and/or get in the way quite a bit, I I have left it inside. Maybe I will be able to fix it up better some day. The wires seem to get in the way when I try to run them to the top.. Thanks for all the information!